Owen Good

Possession of illegal weapons might be a class 1 misdemeanor. Sending them out as swag, especially for a company like Electronic Arts, is a grade-A f***-up.

Now, speaking as someone who once had a cool swag idea that ran afoul of a corporate legal department ex post facto (very long story, do not ask) I'm sure the marketer behind this one was not considering the criminal code when he greenlighted the distribution of brass knuckles as a Godfather II promo. But I'm also sure he had a very adult conversation with risk management. And that he's not going to sit in the front seat next time two of his colleagues suggest they go out for lunch. Especially if cannolis are brought along.

On our end of things, bet half your ass and all your balls Jack Thompson just contacted the cop departments of his mostleast favorite games writers to alert them to the evildoing in their jurisdiction.

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Still, corporate stupidity was not limited to the publishers; GameStop was called out for its "really-that's-new-ok-not-really" practice of letting titles played by staff go out the door advertised as brand new. That might acquaint them with the FTC, which is not a new genre (first-tower combat?). And I'm out of breath. That only covers two of the most outrageous things in the week of original reporting.